*in some cases

ok, so I know I’m supposed to write more about the food allergies, so here goes…

the other night I made a vegan no nut flourless chocolate torte…totally allergy friendly. You use an entire can of black eyed peas in the recipe. so gross. but so good! just don’t eat it hot and add more chocolate than the recipe calls for. hot, it tastes like “bean torte”. cool, tastes, as one little would say, “’sconna beeso yummy”.
here is the link:
http://www.noveleats.com/vegan-flourless-chocolate-cake

I’m not from Spain, nor do I pretend to know anything about the hundreds of years of tradition and refinement that has gone into the creation of paellas. I just had to make a quick dinner for my family the other night, and I had some paella rice, saffron and shrimp on hand. So here’s what I “cooked up.”

Ingredients

- 1.5 cups paella rice
- about 25 t0 30 medium sized frozen, uncooked shrimp (shelled and “deveined” for ease of use by the squeamish eater)
- two small onions, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 a bag of frozen, shelled fava beans
- 1 hand full of those midget carrot nubs that come in a bag, cut into small slices
- 1 qt chicken broth, at close to boiling temperature
- 1tsp olive oil
- 1 generous pinch of saffron
- salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Using low sided pan, like a sauté pan, sweat (simmer while covered — over medium-low heat) the onions and carrots with about 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil, until the onions are translucent.

Add the garlic and the rice, and stir for about a minute.

Sprinkle the saffron evenly over the rice.

Add the broth, just enough to coat the rice.

Lay out the shrimp and fava beans evenly on top of the rice. Cover the pan and let it simmer over low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Taste the rice periodically, and turn off the heat when the ice is cooked.

Serve this dish hot.

Happy cooking.

Ingredients for 4 people

- 8 chicken thighs
- 3 onions, halved then cut into slices
- 1 tbs. cumin powder
- 1 tbs. curry powder
- 1 tsp. ginger powder
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 1 qt chicken stock
- 1/4 cup fresh ginger slices
- 3 or 4 cilantro stems with leaves
- 1 cup pulp free orange juice
- 4 preserved lemons
- salt and pepper to taste

Special equipment

- a tagine or a cast iron pot with lid
- or, pressure cooker (cuts cooking time 20 minutes, at optimal pressure)

Preparation

1. Sweat the onions at low to medium heat, until they are translucent. Then add the chicken thighs.

2. Add in the cumin, curry, and ginger powders, and the saffron threads, then stir until the spices are well incorporated. Add salt and pepper, about 1tsp. each.

3. Add enough chicken stock to cover the chicken thighs.

4. Cook covered on low heat for about 30 minutes. If you are using a pressure cooker, skip to step 5.

5. Add the ginger slices, cilantro stems, the honey, and the orange juice.

6. Cook covered on low heat for another 30 minutes. If you are using a pressure cooker, skip to step 7.

7. Add the 4 preserved lemons.

8. Cook covered on low heat for another 30 minutes until the sauce is nice and thick (when it coats the back of a spoon). If you are using a pressure cooker, close and seal the lid, turn up the heat to medium high until it reached optimal pressure, then cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat.

9. Serve while hot, on a bed of saffron rice or couscous with raisins cooked in chicken broth.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients for 4 people

- 300 g. of porc livers, thinly sliced (about 3 cm long and 2 cm wide),
- 1 onion, thinly sliced,
- 100 g. of frozen peas,
- 10 g. of dried black mushrooms,
- 20 g. of dried porcini mushrooms,
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced,
- 1 thumb size piece of ginger, finely chopped,
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped,
- 2 tbs. of soy sauce,
- 1 tbs. of dry vermouth,
- 1 tbs. corn starch or arrow root,
- 1 tsp. of sugar,
- 5 pinches of pepper,
- 1 cup of stock,
- 2 tbs. olive oil.

Preparation

Soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes in warm water then strain them and cut them into thin slices. In a bowl, mix the starch, the stock and the soy sauce.

Blanche the liver slices for 15 seconds, then rinse them off. Dredge them in a mixture of the sugar, the pepper and the vermouth and let them rest for 30 minutes.

In a sauté pan, heat 1 tbs. of olive oil, add the ginger and stir for a few seconds, then add the liver. Cook for 5 minutes, tossing every once in a while.

Remove the liver and set it aside for later.

Using the same sauté pan, add another tbs. of olive oil, and turn the heat to medium high. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, stir for a few seconds, then add the carrot. Cook for 1 minute, all the while stirring with a wooden spatula. Add the onion, the peas, and the mushrooms. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring.

Reduce the heat to medium low put the liver back in, and add the starch/soy sauce/stock mixture. Let it all simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens.

Serve while hot on a bed of pasta. Garnish with parsley.

Happy cooking!

I discovered how to make this a few years ago. It’s ridiculously simple, yet it tastes dam good on everything, and it will make you look like a pro when you are entertaining. Leila is not even 3, but she asks for it (”I want some black dip please”) when she’s eating potatoes, broccoli, carrots, rack of lamb…

All you need is a large bottle of average to decent balsamic vinegar (at least 12 oz or you’ll end up with less than 3 oz of finished product).

Empty your bottle of balsamic vinegar into a heavy bottom saucepan, and put the saucepan on super low heat. The liquid should not even come to a simmer. All you’ll see is a fine mist swaying over the liquid. The fumes do pack a punch, so might want to make this when you’ll be home alone all day.
Once the vinegar has reduced down to just a quarter of its original volume, take it off the heat and let it cool enough that it won’t burn you.

Pour the reduced vinegar into a plastic squeeze bottle, and you’re done. Put the squeeze bottle in the fridge and pull it out went you want to squirt some on a plate. A little goes a long way. It will keep for months.